Athletics at the 1900 Summer Olympics - Men's marathon

Infobox Olympic event
event = Men's marathon
games = 1900 Summer


caption = The early stages of the race
venue = Paris
dates = July 19
competitors = 13
nations = 5
gold = Michel Théato
goldNOC = FRA
silver = Émile Champion
silverNOC = FRA
bronze = Ernst Fast
bronzeNOC = SWE
prev=1896
next=1904

The men's marathon was a track & field athletics event at the 1900 Summer Olympics in Paris. It was held on July 19, 1900. 13 athletes from five nations competed in the marathon, which used a distance of 40.26 kilometres.

The winner, Michel Théato, was originally assumed to be French, before it was discovered in the late 20th century that his nationality was Luxembourgish. The International Olympic Committee still credits this medal for France, however.

Records

These were the standing world and Olympic records (in hours) prior to the 1900 Summer Olympics.

"(*)" Distance was 40 kilometres

Results

The marathon race, which began at 2:30 p.m. on a day with temperatures reaching nearly 40 C., wound through the streets of Paris. Thirteen runners started, though only twelve finished the four laps around the track that preceded the road running. Touquet-Daunis led until he withdrew from the competition, at which point Fast took over. Fast had tired himself trying to keep pace with the Frenchman, however, and was passed by Théato and Champion before long. Seven runners finished the race.

ources

* [http://www.olympic.org/uk/athletes/results/search_r_uk.asp International Olympic Committee results database]
* De Wael, Herman. "Herman's Full Olympians": "Athletics 1900". Accessed 18 March 2006. Available electronically at [http://users.skynet.be/hermandw/olymp/ath1900.html ] .
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